Grieving wife of artist who died after eating artisan cheese sues makers for £200k

High Court claim

Carina Parkes has filed a High Court claim for more than £200,000 over the death of her husband, artist and chef Roger Parkes, turning a 2023 food-poisoning case into a live civil dispute in London.

The claim concerns Baronet Reblochon cheese from The Old Cheese Room, a Wiltshire cheesemaker. Reporting says the cheese was later recalled after listeria contamination was identified.

The case is being heard in the High Court in London and could move toward a pre-trial hearing unless it is settled.

Timeline of the illness

According to the reported timeline, the cheese was delivered to the couple’s home as part of a Valentine’s Day gift box in February 2023.

Mr Parkes reportedly began eating it on February 17 and continued over several days.

An ambulance was called on February 21 after he became seriously unwell.

He was transferred to Royal Sussex County Hospital on February 23 and diagnosed with listeria.

He died on February 27, 2023.

Inquest and medical findings

The inquest reportedly concluded that the cheese was contaminated and not fit for human consumption.

The reported medical cause of death was multiple organ failure and listeria meningoencephalitis.

The case has therefore moved beyond the original recall and inquest into a separate liability fight over whether the contamination caused, or materially contributed to, his death.

The defence position

Reporting says The Old Cheese Room accepts that the cheese was contaminated but denies that it is legally responsible for Mr Parkes’s death.

Its reported defence is that he had serious pre-existing health conditions, including major heart surgery and related infections, which also played a major role in the outcome.

That leaves the central issue for the court as causation: whether the contaminated cheese was the decisive factor, or whether underlying illness was the dominant cause.

Wider context

Reporting says two other people also became ill around the time of the recall, although the current claim concerns only Mr Parkes’s death.

The lawsuit revives a case that began with a Valentine’s Day gift, continued through a fatal listeria diagnosis in 2023, and now sits in the civil courts as a compensation claim worth more than £200,000.

The next developments to watch are any published court filings, a hearing date, or a settlement that would avoid a full trial.